What does 'empty threat' mean?

Answer 1

making threats you never mean to keep. like saying to your child you will get sent to bed if !!! but never following it through soon they do not listen to a word you say

Answer 2

If i was to say to you, "I'm going to smash your face in". Then that would be an empty threat. I don't know who you are and there is no way possible that I could carry out that threat. Therefore that is an 'empty threat'.
Most often the phrase is "and that's not a empty threat". In other words, they want you to belive that they can carry out the threat.

Answer 3

it is a threat never usually carried out. Often it is used on children... I remember once being with my two kids driving from England to scotland a trip for us of some 450 miles we were almost there but they were playing up in the back of the car, so the empty threat was " If you don't stop messing around we are going to go back home right now". Of course there was no intention of doing so but they called my bluff and said "o.k. Lets go home then"

Answer 4

Empty Threat

Answer 5

When you threaten someone with something you have no intention of actually doing. Example: If you do that again I'll kill you. The person is not actually going to kill that person, so thats an empty threat.

Answer 6

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RE:
What does 'empty threat' mean?

Answer 7

Another good example of an empty threat is: "If you kids don't shut up in the back of this car, I will turn this car around and go home" when going on holiday.

Answer 8

It means you make a threat, but you have no intention of carrying it out.

In other words it's a bluff.

Answer 9

when you say something that s a threat but you don't mean or actually do it eg :if someone has done something to upset you and you say "i m gonna kill you " then this is an empty threat because you don't actual want to kill them ( !!!! ) things along that lines are empty threats

Answer 10

An empty threat is a threat made against one person to harm another, without ever having intention to truly do so.
As an example, if you tell somebody not to do something or " you will kill them"
You aren't actually going to kill them.....if you do kill them, it is not an empty threat, and you will go to prison.

Answer 11

It means that you threaten to do something but you don't actually intend to do it. It's like saying I'm gonna kill you. Unless you have homicidal tendencies you are not gonna carry this out are you?